Reduce spending to restore the economy (Daily Press)

Jul 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen

Last year, Susan and I watched with pride as our oldest daughter graduated from college, and set off on her life journey in search of a job to start her career.

She was one of the lucky ones, eventually finding a job in her chosen field, but unfortunately many of her friends and peers are still searching.  More and more young people are viewing America not as the land of opportunity as our generation did, but as a place of diminished expectations. The America we grew up in was an America where people were only limited by their imagination, ingenuity and diligence.

 Pessimism is creeping into every corner of our country because the path America is on today is dangerous, debilitating and unsustainable.  It will diminish our children’s future and everyone’s opportunity to achieve their American Dream.

Washington has an opportunity to start taking the necessary steps to set things right and get us back on the path to prosperity.  To get our government under control to improve job opportunities, we have to stop digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt.  In the blink of an eye, our leaders in Washington have made trillion dollar deficits the norm.  This year’s deficit is projected to a hit an astounding $1.65 trillion dollars.

That adds up.  Over $14 trillion dollars in national indebtedness and counting.  The fight in Washington these days is over increasing the debt by over $2 trillion more.

The impending debt-ceiling deadline offers us an opportunity to finally pull Washington back from the brink.  Passing a balanced budget amendment will eliminate the all-too-common debt ceiling theatrics we witness every couple of years.

Some say an amendment to our Constitution is an extraordinary step. 

Correct, and this is an extraordinary crisis that has already done great harm to the American Dream forcing us to borrow approximately 40 cents on every dollar our government spends.  A balanced budget amendment will force leaders in Washington to live by the same rules most Virginia families do – within their means.

Beyond a constitutional amendment, Washington must make meaningful and significant reductions in spending and enact enforceable spending caps to prevent another increase of the debt ceiling in 2 years.  Taken together, these three steps will finally start moving us away from the cliff and into the right direction.

Make no mistake, I do not want to see our country default on its obligations, which could create hardships for everyone here both in the short term and the long term. But, we also can’t continue with the typical Washington band-aid approach, where they take us to the edge of disaster, offer up a short- term solution that fails to address the underlying problem; and then our country is forced to deal with the problem again down the road, spending and wasting trillions of dollars along the way.

Now is the time for us to come together and make the tough choices to stop spending money we don’t have and can’t afford.  Our children deserve better fiscal accountability and pro-job growth solutions. Because, ultimately it will be future generations that shoulder the lasting burdens of Washington’s failures today.

Unfortunately others don’t see it that way. Even with unemployment continuing to climb to 9.2%, some – like my opponent, Tim Kaine – are calling for one trillion dollars in tax increases.  Tax increases will only cripple our already bleak economy by crushing any potential job growth on the horizon.

This is not the first time Tim Kaine has pushed for tax increases.  As governor he called for $4 billion worth of tax increases and under his leadership Virginia lost nearly 100,000 jobs.  He also shut down numerous Rest Areas along interstate roads throughout Virginia, claiming he needed to raise taxes to keep them open.  Upon taking office Governor McDonnell launched an audit that showed V-DOT actually had a surplus of nearly $900 million.

I call on Mr. Kaine and others to offer up constructive, long term solutions like I’ve proposed and am supporting as opposed to raising taxes and not addressing the out of control spending that leads to this reoccurring debt ceiling increases.  He may not like the ideas I’m advocating for – as is his right – but it’s my hope that he will offer up concrete solutions as I have.  We may disagree with each other’s approach but it’s a debate worth having for the future direction of our country.

I want America to be in control of our own destiny.  We remain vulnerable to outside forces due to our dangerous levels of debt and our counterproductive energy policies.

In this pivotal race for America’s future, I’ve laid out a pro-growth plan of action for jobs, affordable American energy, competitiveness, freedom and opportunity that steers us away from mandates, dictates, redistribution and dependency on government.

There is urgency for action to reinvigorate the entrepreneurial spirit of America.

Americans are the most productive, innovative and hardworking people in the world.  It is not the quality of the American people who are holding back our economic growth and security – it is the burdensome course Washington has set us on that needs to change. I want to get “America Open for Business!” again.

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Op-Ed: Defending Virginians’ right to work (Politico)

Jun 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen

Americans have the right to move to wherever they want in our country. That same basic freedom of movement applies to businesses and investment.

Do we want bureaucrats in Washington dictating where our businesses can set up operations, invest and create new jobs in America? Should federal bureaucrats be allowed to intimidate job-creating businesses with costly lawsuits as punishment for making a decision to locate in a favorable place in the U.S.?

Well, such an attack on freedom of movement is happening right now.

President Thomas Jefferson defined the sum of good government as, “a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”

Those words are the uplifting principles of a free society.

Unfortunately these principles are being ignored by the powers in Washington.

The National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against Boeing’s locating some production facilities in South Carolina is an attack on the founding principles of our country. It’s also an attack on the freedom and competitiveness of every state with right-to-work laws -– including Virginia.

If the NLRB is successful, a chilling message will be sent to all businesses operating, or considering operating, in the U.S. It is shameful that a business could enjoy greater opportunity in another country. We should be sending the message “America is Open for Business,” rather than “America likes to tax and regulate business.”

As Virginia governor, I saw first-hand the competitive advantage that our right-to-work law gave us in recruiting and expanding new investment and jobs. The law serves as a foundational strength. Being the northern-most state on the Eastern Seaboard with a right-to-work law places Virginia in a great location for business. Maintaining that advantage ensures that men and women in Virginia receive the best opportunities to succeed in a highly-competitive economy.

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ICYMI: Allen: A Blueprint for America’s Comeback (Richmond Times Dispatch Op-Ed)

Jun 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

June 15, 2011


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

A Blueprint for America’s Comeback

From the Richmond Times Dispatch

 

By George Allen

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Susan and I watched with great pride as our oldest daughter, Tyler, graduated from college last year. Like many parents, we worried about the diminished opportunities that lay ahead for her and other young people these days. Many of Tyler’s friends, saddled with student loans, struggled — and are still struggling — to find work. Even when many of these young people find a job, few are working in fields that take advantage of the college degrees they studied so hard to earn. The disappointing reality is that many parents do not believe that future generations will have a better life than the one they inherited from their parents.

America should be a country where young people graduating from college are limited only by their imagination, hard work and ingenuity. For our country to truly be a land of opportunity, we must reinvigorate our nation’s entrepreneurial spirit by making it more competitive for investment and more American jobs with pro-growth economic and creative American energy policies.

Over the past few years, I have travelled throughout Virginia listening to the concerns of working people and business owners. It’s sadly apparent that many Virginians’ sense of achieving the American Dream has been badly shaken by our struggling economy, falling home values and a government that borrows $40 for every $100 it spends. Draconian regulations, threatened tax increases, costly health-insurance mandates and counterproductive energy policies have paralyzed America’s businesses — our economy’s job creators — leaving them unable to invest, hire or expand.

With one policy change we could send a clear message: America is open for business! Reducing the U.S. tax rate to 20 percent on job producers would add more than 500,000 private-sector jobs a year — that’s more than 5 million new jobs for Americans in the next 10 years. A vibrant economy with more investment and businesses prospering means more jobs and revenue. Even a lesser reduction to 25 percent is estimated to increase gross private investment by $57.2 billion per year and add $132 billion per year to America’s gross domestic product.

Americans are the most productive, innovative and hardest-working people in the world. It is not the quality of the American people that is limiting economic growth. A significant impediment to job-creating investment in the United States is the punishingly high taxes the federal government imposes on businesses. At 35 percent, the United States has the second-highest business income tax among developed nations. According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, America’s working men and woman bear 70 percent of the corporate tax burden — meaning this tax thwarts jobs, depresses wages and increases the cost of American-made products and services. Our government is taxing America out of the competition. And American workers and consumers are paying the price.

To read more

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The answer to America’s energy needs is right here, Mr. President

Apr 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
The Washington Examiner
April 26, 2011

In answering a college student’s question about high gas prices last week at Northern Virginia Community College, President Obama told Americans he believes the only real way to reduce our energy costs is to spend money on research and development of clean-energy technology.

Well guess what, Mr. President, America is blessed with the most plentiful energy resources in the world – right here under our land and water. If we are serious about saving family’s money and reducing dependence of foreign oil, what we ought unleash and utilize our resources cleanly and creatively for American jobs, quality of life, balance of trade and national security.

Sadly, the president and his liberal allies in Washington seem more concerned about tilting at intermittent, expensive windmills and throwing up bureaucratic roadblocks to using our American resources than the crippling impact of high energy costs on Virginians and Americans already struggling to keep afloat in a slow economy. These counterproductive policies are taking America down a path that is deeply flawed, unrealistic, harmful, and downright dangerous.

By almost every measurable indicator, the Obama Administration has launched a full-scale assault on conventional fuels – whether it is the EPA advancing the “train wreck” of draconian regulations affecting all facets of the energy that powers our lives and livelihoods, the Interior Department’s stalling effort to cut off access to Gulf of Mexico oil by withholding drilling permits, the substantial increase in bureaucratic red tape that has diminished productive activity, or the president’s termination of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository.

Such actions have led companies to question building of new coal and nuclear plants. Meanwhile, wind and solar power technologies remain costly and years away – if ever – from widespread use, despite the tens of billions the U.S. Department of Energy has spent on renewable energy technologies since 1978, when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. All of which foreshadows a future of higher energy costs for American families and businesses, and increased – not decreased – dependency on foreign oil.

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Flat tax option: the freedom to choose

Apr 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
The Daily Caller
April 18, 2011

For most Americans, April marks the time when they have their most direct interaction with their government — and it is an experience most of us dread. April is tax time, and each April Americans are confronted with the complicated, stressful mess that Washington calls the Internal Revenue Code.

Our tax code is so complex that almost everybody needs help to comply with the laws, regulations and rules. The IRS estimates that 89% of Americans hire someone else to prepare their taxes or use computer software to assist them. It is no wonder. The tax code fills 25 volumes, and consists of 3.8 million words (as a point of reference, the Bible contains fewer than 775,000 words).

Complexity is costly. According to a 2010 report from the National Taxpayer Advocate — an independent ombudsman for the IRS — taxpayers and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with the filing requirements for their taxes at a cost of $163 billion. That is in addition to what we actually pay in taxes. One could say that families and businesses must spend so much money (and time) on tax preparation that the complicated tax code itself acts as an extra tax on us and the flow of our economy. This is a waste of productive time and money.

Something is terribly wrong with a tax code that is too complicated and burdensome for most citizens to comfortably navigate on their own — and not because they are not smart enough. When Money Magazine asked 45 tax experts to fill out a hypothetical family’s taxes, every one of them came up with a different bottom line — 45 different tax calculations, ranging from $36,322 to $94,438!

There have been efforts to simplify the tax code in the past, including proposals to switch to a flat tax that eliminates the maze of deductions, exemptions, and special rules in exchange for a lower tax rate. The format is so simple that the entire federal tax return can be reduced to a single postcard. The end result is that overall tax liability can be the same — or even reduced. Either way, individuals and businesses save by not having to collect all their information and pay for tax preparation services or software.

One would think such a common-sense approach to taxation would be simple to enact into law — but not in Washington. Like so many good ideas that make it past the Beltway, the flat tax meets stiff opposition from those battling to preserve their particular tax breaks. Now many of these tax breaks are good when considered individually — many of them are intended to help people and businesses — but combined they have turned into a confusing labyrinth.

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ALLEN: Obama is pumping pain…Poor policies lead to predictably high fuel prices

Mar 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
The Washington Times
March 9, 2011

Each morning over the past several weeks, Americans have watched gasoline and diesel prices skyrocket, igniting worries about the potential for a record-setting spring and summer of high fuel and food costs. Prices have not spiked this quickly since Hurricane Katrina in 2005; in fact, we are experiencing the second highest weekly spike in prices since 1990, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Several factors are behind the turbulence in the oil markets. The global market has responded to the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa with speculative higher prices. Growing demand from China and India for oil, gas and coal has changed the dynamics of world energy needs.

But the roots of our energy woes are largely of our own making. The price of crude oil as a global commodity is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and America’s huge budget deficit and massive trade deficit have devalued our currency.

Worse, the regulatory assault on American fossil fuels by the Obama administration and the past Congress has had a significant effect on today’s fuel prices. These counterproductive energy policies have decreased domestic production and left us more vulnerable than ever to the whims and designs of hostile dictators, oligarchs and cartels.

Consider this economic signal from the Gulf of Mexico. In 2008, the Department of the Interior received more than $68 million in revenues from royalties and lease sales under the Gulf of Mexico Energy and Security Act. In 2010, revenues plummeted to $2.3 million. Our economy lost billions in economic activity and thousands of jobs because of the terrible Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the subsequent self-inflicted moratorium by the Obama administration that closed down drilling.

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Egypt and beyond: Four pillars for free and just society

Feb 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
Richmond Times Dispatch
February 27, 2011

After 30 years of rule and the imposition of economic and social restraints on the people of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak yielded power in the face of determined, continuous rallies of people in favor of greater freedom and the opportunity to lead better lives.

The Egyptian army did not turn against the citizens, which is a beneficial sign of restraint — and the fact that so many Egyptians have served in their military.

As the world awaits the civilian government that fills the void, the United States and our allies should support a peaceful transition to a society in Egypt that addresses both the aspirations of the citizens and the basic individual rights that should be secured for all human beings.

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it became clear to me that there is a set of key, foundational principles common to all successful civilizations.

These ideals, which I call the Four Pillars of a Free and Just Society , are imperative for any form of government to earn the consent of the people and allow them to lead fulfilling lives. These pillars should be the basis of any emerging Egypt — in a constitution and laws.

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Egypt and 4 pillars of a just society

Feb 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
Politico
February 16, 2011

The world has been captivated by Egypt, watching with concern, anticipation and hope as the Egyptian people took their frustrations and aspirations to the streets. After decades of economic and social restraints, the Egyptian people have awakened to rally for their right to freedom and opportunity to lead better lives.

It is paramount that United States and its allies support a peaceful transition to a free and just society, governed by the consent of the people.

Egypt’s new constitution should be built upon the solid foundation of what I call the four pillars of a free and just society. When I served as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I saw that these principles are at the heart of every successful free society.

The first pillar is freedom of religion, guaranteeing freedom of personal beliefs and conscience. No person’s rights or opportunities should be enhanced nor diminished due to their religious persuasion. People should be able to worship as they choose, since a state enforcing or denying religion is tyranny.

The second pillar is freedom of expression for men and women. The people of Egypt must be able to express themselves without fear of retribution from a new or future government. For there to be a stable Egypt, on par with other advanced nations, the new government must respect its citizens’ inalienable rights and never forget that it derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.

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Why I’m Running for the U.S. Senate in Virginia

Jan 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
The American Spectator
January 27, 2011

During our history, Americans have risen to face many challenges. Traveling throughout the Commonwealth listening to the voices of Virginians, I hear growing concern and frustration that today’s challenges are being made worse by the federal government in Washington. It’s difficult for our neighbors and family members to find work in a sputtering economy. People are worried about paying their bills due to rising energy and health care costs. And parents are fearful that Washington’s out-of-control spending and rising national debt will rob our children of the same future opportunities our parent’s generation handed to us.

I am respectfully asking that the voters of Virginia hire me on for six years to fight on behalf Virginia voices and values which are being ignored by Washington today. The 2012 election will be pivotal in determining the trajectory of our country: Will our children and grandchildren know the full blessings of freedom in the promise of America? Will they see their opportunities to achieve the American Dream continue to decline or will America’s best years lie ahead? We can spark an American comeback, but only by listening to the owners of our government, “We the People,” adhering to our foundational principles, reining in federal spending, and creating conditions for more opportunities for jobs.

While attending hundreds of town halls, rallies and meetings across Virginia, the message I heard consistently was that the people of Virginia want a leaner, less burdensome and more accountable government. Our nation’s budget ought to be executed with the same discipline that small businesses and families use across the country. That is why was one of about a dozen other Senators to vote against funding the Bridge to Nowhere. Washington needs to show it has the discipline to ensure there is no more wasteful spending on Bridges to Nowhere, orchid gardens in Pittsburgh, and indoor rainforests in Iowa. It is past time to rein in government. And while earmarks may be a small part of the budget deficit, they need to be stopped until the overall budget is balanced, and then a two-thirds majority should be required to pass any earmark.

Congress also needs to enact a real budget reform plan that includes a balanced budget amendment, line item veto and a “Paycheck Penalty” that would withhold Members of Congress salaries if they don’t pass appropriations bills on time. It’s their job, and it’s what they are paid to do. And, if they do not get this job done on time, then withhold their pay. The only way to rein in federal deficit spending is to change the way Washington operates.

Our leaders in Washington need to be willing to fight to repeal or defund the unfair, harmful, unconstitutional federal government takeover of health care. In the Senate I will stand up for the Virginia voices who oppose the dictates and mandates of this anti-jobs health care monstrosity and fight to replace it with reforms that will deliver on the promise to make health care more affordable and accessible, including personal health savings accounts, and expand competition and choice by allowing health insurance to be acquired across state lines.

Virginians are worried that skyrocketing electricity, fuel and food costs that are diminishing the quality of life and causing thousands of jobs to be moved overseas. To reduce energy costs for our families and small businesses, we need a winning American energy plan that encourages practical conservation and innovation; utilizes all of our plentiful resources including clean coal technology, natural gas and oil; and removes outdated regulatory barriers to the next generation of nuclear power. America is blessed with more energy resources than any country in the world and it is time to unleash our resources and creativity, not bury them under stifling EPA regulations.

Today America and Virginia face many challenges. The looming tax hikes, spending sprees, and government mandates from Washington are stifling the source of American innovation — free people and free enterprise. Virginians are ready for Washington to stop being part of the problem and start implementing real solutions to the issues confronting our families and businesses. If given the honor and responsibility of serving Virginia in the United States Senate, I pledge to work hard for the voices, values and prosperous future of all Virginians.

George Allen is the former governor, senator, and current U.S. Senate candidate from Virginia.

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Allen: Local decision-making trumps federal government’s health care power grab

Dec 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By George Allen
Washington Examiner
December 7, 2010

Virginia and many other states have pending lawsuits against the federal government’s takeover of health care. These cases represent important battles in the fight to restore the constitutional balance of power between the states and the federal government that is necessary to maintain individual liberty.

For many years, the creeping over-reach and centralization of power in Washington has eroded our foundational constitutional framework.

The U.S. Constitution provides to the federal government only certain limited powers, such as providing for national defense or regulating commerce between the states and other nations. The Bill of Rights to the Constitution emphatically protects individual rights and plainly expresses that all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved to the states and the people.

Critics of the court challenges to the health care law think that devotion to the Constitution and local decision-making must give way to their centralized vision of America with the federal government requiring that each citizen must purchase health care insurance by force of law.

But Virginians understand that the issue is not just about health care, it is about the rule of law and liberty. If the federal government has the power to tell you that you must buy health insurance, then the federal government is unrestrained and omnipotent over our lives.

The American Revolution was fought to free us from the tyranny of the British king and establish representative government and secure individual rights, not to cede our hard-fought, God-given rights to another unresponsive government on the north banks of the Potomac that ignores us.

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